I’ve been to trade shows, and while they may be enlightening ... they don’t offer the time and close quarters that really allow the participants to gain a full perspective on a particular company or product line

By David Mantey, Assistant Editor

"Until this trip, I’d always under-estimated a summit’s potential." -David Mantey

In a room filled with storytellers and a group of successful businessmen looking to have their stories told, I was recently in Boston to hear about the latest and greatest Delcam has to offer. OK, for the sake of familiarity, I took a James Frey-esque liberty and moved the setting a half-hour closer to Fenway. I thought the summit would be closer to the Quincy Market, but as I learned from the half-hour shuttle ride from the Boston Logan Airport, I wasn’t exactly walking distance away from the bay. However, tucked in Sudbury, MA, hosted at Methods Machine Tools’ new, and stunningly tidy shop, Delcam Software held its 2008 American Technical Summit. 

And I assure you; the visit had nothing to do with the open ice bar.

It was in Methods’ training room, reminiscent of my old college classrooms with wall-to-wall whiteboards and chairs that allowed you to exit only if you slid back and then out (if you slid out and then back, there was great potential for physical bodily harm), that I finally experienced the impact of the case study.

Granted, I read several case studies a week as they’re prepared by their respected (allegedly) PR agencies, but I’ve never fathomed the significance of the companies featured in the print versions, mostly because you take such documents with a grain of salt. Only so many products and services can be as unique, one-of-a-kind, and life-altering as they promise. But to hear it coming directly from the men and women who have sunk their financial lives into a whim and a business plan, and found success, it offers an urgency, an American dream quality that is somehow lost in the stacks of case studies scattered across my desk.

Roland Hernandez, Carving Ice, offered his expertise with the official ArtCam Booze Luge.

I found an added enthusiasm and allure, a legitimacy, in the man of few words from Mile High Orthotics who stood in front of a crowd to say that he saw no other way to model and machine custom foot orthotics, and Delcam Crispin helped him find it in OrthoModel, a highly automated system for the design and manufacture of orthotic insoles. Sure, a press summit is the equivalent of a casino; the house is always going to win, but you can’t forge a success story as told by the man with everything on the line.

For example, Roland Hernandez, owner and CEO of Carving Ice, has carved out a growing niche in the marketplace by using ArtCAM software and a CNC that runs in a freezer to create ice sculpture masterpieces. Hernandez, once a college student traditionally carving ice by hand to earn a little extra cash on the side, has streamlined his business to the point where he’s looking to expand his operation. ArtCAM is not a conventional CADCAM in that it enables creative designers to work with modern technology. The program is less restrictive and, as it did with Hernandez, it looks to take traditional craftsmen into the digital age.

If not educational, the summit was simply amusing to see how each presenter has taken a Delcam solution and used it to make their lives easier and more efficient. And that’s not merely regurgitated from the final lines of a recent press release, but rather an observation from a couple of days spent surrounded by all things Delcam.

Until this trip, I’d always underestimated a summit’s potential. I’ve been to trade shows, and while they may be enlightening and an opportunity to rake through the sand to find a few new interesting technologies and story ideas, they don’t offer the time and close quarters that really allow the participants to gain a full perspective on a particular company or product line. With smaller numbers comes the opportunity to find more face time with one another, and establish a lasting rapport with potential future clients and partners. 

On another note, the PD&D staff is working on putting together an upcoming editorial feature on Time-to-Market Design Trends. If you get a chance, take two minutes and let us know what you think about a couple of Time-to-Market issues.

Another custom Hernandez masterpiece, which Carving Ice had shipped in specifically for the event.